I'm having some issues with this version that I didn't really experience with the older "stable" version.

I'll often see flickers from Windows, like my taskbar or an open window when I'm in fullscreen mode. It doesn't appear to cause issues, but it's bothersome.

In the older version, if I Alt-tabbed, I could get back in the game, but my mercs would be walking backward. I could correct that with some button presses...don't really remember. But in this one, I can't even get back in and have to completely close the game. I accidentally pressed the Windows key and lost some playtime because I hadn't saved. This problem is particularly troublesome for me. Is there any way to correct it other than play in windowed mode?

Are you sure this isn't perhaps some Windows issue? Ever since I've switched to Win 10 any application in the background with video or some other types of display 'shines through' the game. This is especially annoying in debug builds, which have the additional quirk that the game display doesn't disappear when some other application comes into focus (essentially it seems like I'm clicking in the game, but I'm not).

As to the Alt issue, that is ancient.

In both cases I'm not aware of a code change that would have altered these behaviours. I'd be happy if we had that.

"Is there any way to get the blood to flow up the walls?"
"I don't see why not."

If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.

I haven't seen the background flickers from any other games. It's not a huge deal though. It doesn't affect my gameplay. I don't end up clicking outside the game. Shoot, that combined with not being able to get back into that game would be really bad.

I have the same issue and figured Windows 10 is causing it. I noticed that Windows 10's night light option (which I had enabled) makes the problem a lot worse, although sometimes I don't seem to have any flickering at all. It's all very weird.

I really dread the day I went for MicroScum's free malware upgrade, especially since Windows 7 (which is awesome) is still supported as far as I know.

I think I might have accidentally fallen over the solution for this problem.
I was going through some Windows settings for something unrelated, came across the "Transparency Effects" option and thought: Hmm, if I turn this off then maybe JA2 will run better.
And sure enough, the problem seems to have disappeared for me. There were some graphical artifacts in the main menu before and even those are gone. Worth to try!

To find it, right-click your desktop, click Personalize, go to Colors, scroll down until you see More Options and turn Transparency Effects off.

If you still have problems, also disable Night Light if you have this on. Right-click your desktop, Display Settings, it's right at the top.

Windows 10 is the Windows 8.1 headache with watered down aspirin. You should never try to consolidate operating systems for two entirely different devices. Ever.

Windows 10's version of DirectX also deprecated the old 2D drawing methods, meaning to play old games that rely on 2D rendering you'll need to use the WineGL's .dlls and libraries (which have their own drawbacks).

If you're using the Win8Fix.zip patch, that's what those are. You'll notice the interface is incredibly stiff and it doesn't like alt-tabbing either. There's also graphical corruption when you use alternate map colors.

The latest dev build of JA2 uses a modified drawing method to allow for widescreen, so you might try playing with the res and widescreen settings in JA2.ini . Running in windowed might be more ideal for you. You could also try getting the latest Wine wrappers for 2D programs, but I would assume the latest is already in the Win8-10Patch.zip in the JA2 folder. There might be a variation of it that allows ALT-Tabbing, some indie coder somewhere.

You could also try to disable some of the graphical effects listed in 'Performance Information and Tools' under 'Advanced Settings', or go to Win 10's mobile frontend options and do what Jolly Reaper suggested. Same thing, just a different backend. Windows 10 like Windows 8 runs two separate backends and has two different options (one for mobile, one for the original backend), so either might be bleeding into your game.

Win 10 uses some of the graphics processor to render preview images of folders and windows, which might mess with the Wine wrapper among other things. This is the likely culprit. I don't remember if you can disable this, but check both sets of Performance options. If that fails, a registry fix is most likely available. Just like with turning off Updates.

I think I might have accidentally fallen over the solution for this problem.
I was going through some Windows settings for something unrelated, came across the "Transparency Effects" option and thought: Hmm, if I turn this off then maybe JA2 will run better.
And sure enough, the problem seems to have disappeared for me. There were some graphical artifacts in the main menu before and even those are gone. Worth to try!

To find it, right-click your desktop, click Personalize, go to Colors, scroll down until you see More Options and turn Transparency Effects off.

If you still have problems, also disable Night Light if you have this on. Right-click your desktop, Display Settings, it's right at the top.

That'd be nice. An OS that doesn't want to violate your rights, is user friendly and runs any game from 1992 'til today.

@Boge: Interestingly I had some of those flashes again today, but they're a lot less. Yesterday I had none though. I don't really get why it's so random. It's like I boot my PC and Windows is like: Today I'm going to behave like an arse because I feel like it.
Another thing you could try is to click Start, type "performance", click on "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows" and adjust everything under Visual Effects for best performance.
Other than that I'm out of ideas.

We have MS to thank for this unfortunately. I doubt there'll be a real fix for it. With every new Windows version more old Windows games die. I guess it's JA2's turn to bite the bullet soon.

> With every new Windows version more old Windows games die. I guess it's JA2's turn to bite the bullet soon.

Only 2D DDraw games. Anything that engaged 3D rendering will be just fine. I mean, only nerds still play 2D games not on mobile, rite?

Hey Boge, try hiding the task bar and disabling every single notification. Auto-Hide Taskbar would keep it from clipping, then if you boff all notifications it won't pop up through the screen. One could also give JA2.exe higher CPU priority, plus set Windows performance options to favor applications. Might work.

Also, you know what it might be? VSync. Make sure vertical sync is enabled both in JA2_Options.ini and in your Radeon/Nvidia Control Panel for this specific program. If it's already on, disable it and see if that works.

If that's not workable:

Try different Twine/Wine/libwine GL packages. Maybe some of the older ones might do it. I had to grab one for Desperados, which uses the same 2D DirectDraw method as JA and MechCommander, etc.

hiding the task bar and disabling every single notification.
give JA2.exe higher CPU priority
Make sure vertical sync is enabled both in JA2_Options.ini and in your Radeon/Nvidia Control Panel for this specific program.

I did these and played for about an hour and a half and didn't see any background flickering. So far so good!

It's weird, huh? I don't get it either. Every now and then I can play for hours on end without even seeing one flicker and then they're back without warning.
I feel they got a lot less after changing the things I mentioned in this thread, but...

I've been trying to pinpoint when they start appearing, if I was doing something particular in Windows earlier (like watching videos or using a certain application) and so on. I still don't have a clue.
For me they're the worst when I'm managing a sector's inventory, where these flickers seem to coincide with actions from my side, picking up/dropping an object and hovering over an object, enabling glows on other objects due to their compatibility. At the moment I'm hovering and the glows would appear I'm treated with a flicker first.
I'd see my Windows background, which I've turned to solid black recently, because every time my bright Windows-wallpaper would flash through the game it feels like it'd like to give me seizures, even though I'm not epileptic.

They don't happen in tactical at all. (Although weird stuff happens when I use the key ring in tactical: The map turns black until something happens to refresh it, like moving the mouse or moving the view of the battlefield.)

Oh well. I doubt I'll ever find a solution for this, other than getting rid of Windows 10, but if I do I'll be sure to shout.

To me the problem with flicker happens when I have a window in the background that updates regularly, like the browser for example. If I put a solid window in the background like Notepad++ there is no flicker. So far I could reproduce that anytime.